A world without developers, scary and bland...
I got pretty lucky being able to chat with Joel himself, and thought that I'd save this here because he provides some insight to indy development :
TymaxBeta : I develop on mods and indy projects, and its pretty damn awesome to be talking to someone in your position, would you mind if I asked a little about the Dev proccess at FB?
Joel: well sure
Joel: I may be slow in reply atm though
TymaxBeta : no problem, I was wondering, what is the first step of development after creating the concept for you guys?
TymaxBeta : I mean, after design doc
Joel: ah
Joel: well
Joel: we don't do design docs anymore anyhow
Joel: it's a concept idea, then some prototyping or full development depending on what the idea needs
TymaxBeta : so is it art assets, levels? what comes first on the table
Joel: well for Trine 2 it's levels
Joel: levels -> programming and art in conjunction
Joel: I mean level design, e.g. gameplay blocks and such
TymaxBeta : so its gameplay before visuals?
Joel: yes
Joel: but our processes vary between projects
Joel: we don't follow any strict process guidelines or anything :)
TymaxBeta : yeah, one more thing
TymaxBeta : what would be your number one tip to someone starting out in indy development and release?
Joel: not stop working on a game until it's finished :)
Joel: don't drop projects just because you lose interest
Joel: that's my #1 tip
Joel: because finishing projects, the last 10% or so... is very educational
Joel: especially for commercial stuff, but I'd say for non-commercial too
Joel: just wrapping everything up
Joel: because it can be tough
TymaxBeta : Alright, thanks a lot for the insight. So long
Joel: have a good one :)
TymaxBeta : you too!
Joel: :)
From HLP I have learned a bit on how promotion works, I realize now, having a good plan of the profile and the media ready will make your mod stand out more, I hove nothing more to say, I mean, after the first media, trackers tripled, and we were featured on Pod Cast 17, the connection is obvious, ideas get you no were, the work is what brings you success.
Tyler Logsdon